Workflow instances

Depending on your auditing requirements, it may be good enough to know what sub actions were clicked for records, when those sub actions were clicked, and who clicked them. If you need to know what workflows were started as a result of the sub actions and what the workflows did to records, you need more information than is in the Audit Actions tab.

The IBM TRIRIGA Application Platform provides a way for you to examine the actual workflows that ran in response to clicking sub actions and to see how the workflows ran. This feature is based on the fact that workflows run only in response to an action or system event happening to a record. You can see the workflows that ran in response to something happening to specific records.

To be able to see workflows that were started for a record, you need to:

• Decide which workflows are of interest.
• Specify that information about each running of those workflows should be saved.
• Include a tab in appropriate forms for viewing the records of the workflows that have run.

In order for information to be saved each time that a workflow is run, the Save Workflow Instances check box in the workflow's properties must be selected. The Save Workflow Instances check box is discussed in "Start Task".

If a workflow's Save Workflow Instances check box is selected, every time the workflow runs, a copy of the workflow is kept with information about how it ran. This saved information about a single running of a workflow is called a workflow instance.

You can view all saved workflow instances for a workflow by using the Workflow Builder. To do this, select the workflow of interest and then click the List All Instances action.

For researching what a workflow did when it was run a particular time for a particular record, you include a Work Flow Instance tab in the forms that are used to access the type of records that are of interest. To configure a form to include a Work Flow Instance tab, edit the form's properties so that its Show Workflow Instance check box is selected. The Show Workflow Instance check box is discussed in "Form Properties".

The Work Flow Instance tab shows the name of each workflow that ran, the current status of the workflow, and when the workflow started. There is no indication of what started the workflow. You need to use the times sub actions were clicked and the times that workflows were started to match them up.

The statuses showing in the Work Flow Instance tab are as follows:

For synchronous workflows:

• Active (the workflow is currently running)
• Completed (the workflow has completed)

For asynchronous workflows:

• Aborted, Aborted-Warn (the workflow was aborted using the Stop capability in the Administrator Console)
• Active (the workflow is currently running)
• Completed, Completed-Warn (the workflow has completed)
• Failed (the workflow encountered an error and could not continue; information about the problem was written to the System Log)
• Skipped (the workflow would have run, but the Start Conditions were not satisfied)
• Stopped, Stopped-Warn (the workflow ran a Stop task)
• Waiting, Waiting-Warn (the workflow is waiting for a user (user action or approval task))

If Warn is on the status it means that a problem was encountered, information was written to the System Log, and the workflow continued processing.

The workflow names in the Work Flow Instance tab are hyperlinks. If you click a workflow name, the workflow editor shows the actual workflow that ran. Even if the workflow changed after this run, you see the actual version of the workflow that ran.

The workflow editor displays the workflow differently from when you access it through the Workflow Builder. Workflow tasks that were performed are highlighted with a green dashed border. Looking at the highlighting, you can see the path that was taken through the workflow when it ran.

If a workflow step was started but has not finished, it is highlighted with a red dashed border.